Human Biology Writing Assignment

What is the scientific consensus?

In this writing assignment you will read and analyze two additional scientific articles related to your articles from the first writing assignment. Your paper for this assignment will address 3 total articles: your original scientific article, and two new scientific articles.

Learning objectives:

• Continue learning to search scientific article databases
• Continue learning to read and understand scientific articles
• Critically assess the claims made by different scientists on similar research topics

Step 1:

Go back and skim the popular media and scientific articles you selected in Writing Assignment to re-familiarize yourself with their findings, and re-read your analysis of the two articles.

Step 2:

Locate two additional scientific articles that deal with the same general topic as your first article. These articles may support or refute the conclusions reached by the authors of your first article. Both are fine, but if you can find one that supports and one that refutes, that may make for a more interesting paper for you. It is likely that the authors of your first scientific article have written other papers on similar topics. Try to avoid selecting new articles with the same authors, unless you have no other options. This will give you a more comprehensive view of this field than that provided by just one research group.

You may use as loose a definition of “same general topic” as you like. For example, if the first scientific article you read discussed e-cigarettes and their effects on asthma, your new articles might similarly focus on other studies of e-cigarettes and asthma, or you may broaden to e- cigarettes and their effects on other parts of the body. I leave this decision to you, but you should read all of this writing assignment first so you know what you’ll need to do with these papers.

There are several ways you can find these two additional scientific articles:

1. Search a scholarly database using key words from your first article to locate articles on similar subjects (see the “Finding Scholarly Articles” PowerPoint on Blackboard for tips)

2. Use the citations from the Introduction and Discussion sections in your original scientific article. These are articles the authors thought were most important and relevant.

3. Find your first article on Web of Science and browse through articles that cite your first article, and articles that cite similar articles to those cited by your first article: Check out “View Related Records” and “View Citation Map” (again, see the “Finding Scholarly Articles” PowerPoint for a refresher). PubMed and Google Scholars have similar links.

Step 3:

Read your two new scientific articles. Recall my recommendation for how to read them: Abstract, Introduction, Discussion, Methods, Results, Discussion, Abstract.

Writing:

Recall that I don’t have any specific length or word count I’m looking for, as long as you fully answer all the questions below. If you do, I anticipate that this assignment will be about 3-4 typed, double-spaced pages in total.

Again, feel free to use the template I have provided to guide your writing.

Scientific Journal Articles

• Provide the citation for your original scientific article

• Provide the citations for each of your two new scientific articles: AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName. YearPublished. ArticleTitle. JournalName JournalVolume:JournalIssue (JournalPageNumbers).

• 1 paragraph summary for each of the new articles

• ~3-4 paragraphs…

o The authors of the two new scientific articles collected data which they used to support their conclusions. Based on the results presented by the authors, do you agree with their interpretation of their data and their data’s importance? Why or why not?

o What evidence do each of these new scientific articles provide that support or refute the findings of your first scientific article?

o Based on your reading of the original scientific article and the two new scientific articles, what have you learned about your chosen topic? Summarize your understanding of the scientific consensus of this topic, given what you have learned from these three scientific articles

• Using one of your new scientific articles, write a headline for a popular media article that presents as honest a reflection of that scientific article’s findings as possible

• Using your other new scientific article, write a headline for a popular media article that presents as sensationalized a view of that scientific article’s findings as possible.

Attachment:- Writing_Assignment_Template.rar